Yes, this is the camera trying to figure out what "white" should be (e.g. "is this sunlight or are there clouds or is it a old street light or is it an indoor f

Yes, this is the camera trying to figure out what "white" should be (e.g. "is this sunlight or are there clouds or is it a old street light or is it an indoor fluorescent...) and failing because its heuristics don't account for this sort of situation. It has the exposure right, it's just trying to compensate for what it thinks is "bad lighting."